IANA Report on Request for Redelegation
of the .ca Top-Level Domain

IANA Report

Subject: Request of the Canadian Internet Registration
Authority for Redelegation of .ca Top-Level Domain
Date: 1 December 2000

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (the IANA),
as part of the administrative functions associated with management of
the domain-name system (DNS) root, is responsible for receiving requests
for delegation and redelegation of top-level domains (TLDs), investigating
the circumstances pertinent to those requests, and reporting on the
requests. The IANA has received a request for redelegation of the .ca
(Canada) country-code TLD (ccTLD). This report gives the findings and
conclusions of the IANA on its investigation of that request.

The original delegation of the .ca ccTLD was made
naming the University of British Columbia
in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as the sponsoring organization
and John Demco of that university as both administrative and technical
contact. Over the next decade, the .ca ccTLD was operated by Mr. Demco
and a committee of dedicated volunteers across Canada. It is now used
extensively by Internet users within Canada, with approximately 120,000
names registered under the .ca ccTLD as of 30 November 2000.

Although these volunteer efforts served the Canadian
Internet community well for a full decade, by 1997 the growth of the
Internet and electronic commerce caused the community to begin contemplating
a change. Discussions that year at the Canadian Internet community's
annual conference led to the formation of the Canadian Domain Names
Consultation Committee to investigate transitioning the current management
of the .ca ccTLD to a means of operation more appropriate to the requirements
caused by the evolving character of the Internet. Following a public
consultation, the Committee recommended that a private-sector, not-for-profit
corporation be set up to take over the administration of .ca. On 30
December 1998, the Canadian Internet Registration
Authority (CIRA) was incorporated as a not-for-profit corportation
with the intention of managing the .ca ccTLD in the public interest.

In an 11
March 1999 letter, the Government of Canada gave its recognition
to CIRA as the appropriate administrator of the .ca ccTLD. This recognition,
which was consistent with the Government of Canada's "Reform of
the Domain Name System: Current Developments & Statement of Principles"
<http://e-com.ic.gc.ca/english/strat/651d2.html>,
was based on the Government's expectation that CIRA would put in place
an effective structure predicated upon:

conducting CIRA's activities in an open and transparent
manner that ensures wide public access to all relevant information;

following fair and sound business practices;

ensuring an appropriate balance of representation,
accountability and diversity on the Board of Directors for all categories
of stakeholders;

applying for domain names being as quick and
easy as applying for domain names in other top level domains, and
priced competitively;

reducing conflicts between persons granted domain
names and other rights holders, including trade-marks or business
names; and

a system that facilitates and encourages entry
for new players including registrars.

While strongly encouraging private-sector leadership
in achieving these goals, the 11 March 1999 letter also pledged the
Government's continuing advice and assistance in achieving these goals.

CIRA, the University of British Columbia, and the
Government of Canada entered into an Umbrella
Agreement as of 9 May 2000 that stated that "the .ca domain
space should be developed as a key public resource for social and economic
development for all Canadians." In the Umbrella Agreement, the
Government of Canada designated CIRA to manage the .ca ccTLD in accordance
with the principles and structure set out in the 11 March 1999 letter.
CIRA and the University of British Columbia pledged to cooperate in
orderly transition of the .ca ccTLD's management. The Agreement requires
CIRA to manage, operate, and control the .ca ccTLD in accordance with
the public-interest principles of the 11 March 1999 letter and any supplemental
principles that are in the public interest and reasonable. The designation
of CIRA continues indefinitely, subject to termination in the event
that the Government of Canada reasonably determines that CIRA is unable
to continue operating the .ca ccTLD in accordance with those principles.
In the Agreement, CIRA confirmed that its stewardship over the .ca ccTLD
does not give rise to property rights in CIRA to the .ca ccTLD and agreed,
in the event transfer to a newly designated manager of the .ca ccTLD
is necessary, to cooperate in that transfer.

After entry of the Umbrella Agreement, CIRA and
the University of British Columbia began implementing an orderly, gradual
transition to CIRA's management of the .ca ccTLD. CIRA has developed
new policies for administration of the .ca ccTLD. Among those policies
is a system for the provision of registration services by numerous,
competitive registrars; Canadian Presence Requirements providing that
registrants in the .ca ccTLD have a substantial, bona fide connection
with Canada; and registration rules. CIRA is presently in the process
of developing, through an open consultation involving the Canadian Internet
community, an alternative dispute-resolution mechanism for domain-name
disputes in the .ca ccTLD. In October 2000, a CIRA-administered nameserver
was added to the .ca nameserver constellation to permit the transfer
to be conducted in a highly stable manner.

In a 10
October 2000 letter to Michael M. Roberts, President the the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Government of
Canada communicated that it was formally designating CIRA as the Government's
designee to be the .ca delegee. The letter provided a designated point
of contact within the Government of Canada. With the letter, the Government
provided to ICANN copies of the 11 March 1999 letter and the 9 May 2000
Umbrella Agreement, setting forth the terms and conditions of the designation
and requirements for CIRA's management of the delegation. Subsequently,
the IANA has been provided with CIRA's contact details regarding CIRA.

In a 30
November 2000 letter to Mr. Roberts, CIRA requested redelegation
of the .ca ccTLD effective 1 December 2000. In the letter, CIRA expressed
its willingness to enter into a formal, legally binding agreement with
ICANN that promotes the operation of the .ca ccTLD in a stable and secure
manner; that ensures the safety and integrity of the registry database;
that facilitates transfer of all relevant DNS data to a replacement
delegee, if, for any reason, reassignment is necessary; that commits
CIRA to complying with ICANN-developed policies that concern interoperability
of the .ca ccTLD with other parts of the DNS and Internet, operational
capabilities and performance of CIRA, and the obtaining and maintenance
of (and public access to) accurate and up-to-date contact information
for domain name registrants; and that provides for CIRA's contribution
to ICANN's cost of operation in accordance with an equitable scale,
based on ICANN's total funding requirements (including reserves), developed
by ICANN on the basis of consensus.

- Administrative functions associated with root
management. This function involves facilitation and coordination of
the root zone of the domain name system. It includes . . . receiving
delegation and redelegation requests, investigating the circumstances
pertinent to those requests, and reporting on the requests. This function,
however, does not include authorizing modifications, additions, or
deletions to the root zone file or associated information that constitute
delegation or redelegation of top-level domains. The [IANA contract
does] not alter root system responsibilities defined in Amendment
11 of the Cooperative Agreement.

In acting on redelegation requests, the IANA currently
follows the practices summarized in "Internet Domain Name System
Structure and Delegation" (ICP-1).
ICP-1 represents an update of the portions of RFC
1591 (which was issued in March 1994) dealing with ccTLDs, to reflect
evolution of the policies followed by the IANA through May 1999.

In considering delegation or redelegation of a ccTLD,
the IANA seeks input from persons concerned or affected by the transfer,
particularly those within the nation or territory which the ccTLD has
been established to benefit.

The IANA's redelegation procedures recognize that,
where the affected stakeholders can come to agreement about how a ccTLD
should be operated, the result is often more satisfactory than that
achieved where the parties cannot agree and the IANA is required to
actively resolve the dispute. Here, the present ccTLD manager, John
Demco of the University of British Columbia, and the proposed new manager,
CIRA, have worked cooperatively to achieve a transition that is designed
to promote an administration of the .ca ccTLD that meets the evolving
needs of the Canadian Internet community as well as the global Internet
community.

The Government of Canada has also expressed its
support for the structure and principles underlying CIRA and for transfer
of the responsibility for management of the .ca ccTLD to CIRA. As Dr
Postel observed in ccTLD News Memo
#1 and as reiterated
in ICP-1, the views of the government of the affected nation or
territory are taken very seriously in delegation and redelegation matters.
As noted in the IANA Report
on Request for Redelegation of the .pn Top-Level Domain, governmental
views are particularly pertinent when the government is fulfilling its
role of promoting management of the ccTLD in the public interest.

Here, the participation of the Government of Canada
is especially significant. In their Umbrella Agreement, the Government
and CIRA have crafted mechanisms that facilitate input from the Government,
which has general responsibility within Canada for promoting the public
interest and ultimately represents the interests of the people of Canada,
while ensuring that CIRA enjoys, in the execution of its responsibilities,
appropriate rights under applicable law. In particular, the Umbrella
Agreement envisions private-sector leadership, with governmental guidance
stated in broad, public-interest terms, and requires that any governmental
action to replace CIRA be justified by substantial reasons. The Government
of Canada, moreover, has recognized ICANN's primary responsibility for
establishing, disseminating, and overseeing implementation of the technical
standards and practices that relate to the operation of the global DNS.

CIRA, for its part, has not only entered into the
Umbrella Agreement with the Government of Canada but has also committed
to enter into an agreement with ICANN providing for operation of the
.ca ccTLD in a manner that facilitates ICANN's performance of its global
coordination responsibilities. CIRA's commitment provides the framework
for a stable and appropriate agreement between ICANN and CIRA as contemplated
by section
V.C.6 of the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States
Department of Commerce and ICANN, as amended by Amendment 2.

Conclusion

In sum, there has been broad stakeholder participation
in CIRA's formation and its development of new registration policies
for the .ca ccTLD. The proposed redelegation to CIRA has the clear support
of the Canadian Internet community. The commitments of CIRA and the
Government of Canada lay the basis for a set of legal relationships
that will ensure that those two entities and ICANN can perform their
respective responsibilities for stable operation of the .ca ccTLD in
the interests of the Canadian and global Internet communities.

It is therefore the IANA's conclusion that the .ca
top-level domain should be redelegated as requested by CIRA. ICANN and
CIRA should promptly work toward reducing CIRA's commitments to a formal
written agreement. As the Department of Commerce has recognized in Amendment
2, entry into and implementation of stable and appropriate agreements
between ICANN and ccTLD managers is vital to achievement of the transition
to private-sector technical management of the Internet envisioned by
the White Paper. Accordingly, after conclusion of a CIRA-ICANN agreement
providing for stable and appropriate relationships among CIRA, the Government
of Canada, and ICANN, the Department of Commerce should establish revised
procedures for maintenance of the .ca entry in the root zone file that
enable ICANN to perform its obligations under its agreement with CIRA
and that permit moving forward responsibly with the transition to private-sector
technical management of the Internet.

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